It was with great sadness that staff, trustees and others across The Conversation community learned of the recent death of one of our UK patrons, Professor Sir Eric Thomas.
Professor Sir Eric, a former Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, was instrumental in helping The Conversation become established in the UK, not only pledging the support of his institution, but encouraging other university leaders to do likewise. He had a keen sense of the value this project could deliver to researchers and institutions, and continued to voice his enthusiasm for this form of public engagement long after we launched in the UK in 2013.
Nishan Canagarajah, Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Conversation UK and the current current President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester, knew Professor Sir Eric well and at a meeting of trustees last week paid tribute to his contribution and commitment to this project and to the UK higher education sector more widely. He added: “I’ve been in touch with his family. The Board of Trustees thanks Eric for his commitment to The Conversation.” Nishan was previously a pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol.
